Thomas James LeBlanc, a Saugus 9-year-old, shot a sparkling 4-under-par to win his age group at the U.S. Kids Golf New England State Invitational at Tunxis CC in Farmington, Conn.
The son of Lisa and Scott LeBlanc shot 68 for 18 holes at the October event. Two years ago, Thomas won the 7-year-old competition in the same event.
The New England State Invitational is run by U.S. Kids Golf, a national organization that offers players ages 5 to 14 from New England and surrounding states the opportunity to compete.
Thomas, who attends the Belmonte Steam Academy in Saugus, had six birdies and two bogeys in his round. He started playing golf at age 5 in his grandparents’ backyard. Neighbors who were cleaning out their garage gave Thomas a set of clubs. Their son was a lefty, too.
Thomas competes on the U.S. Kids Golf Boston Tour, the local Concord Tour and the NEPGA Junior Tour. He plays a variety of local courses with his dad and his papa, who also is a lefty, and has benefited from instruction by Paradise Family Golf professionals Steven Ventre and Jon Botelho.
Ventre said Thomas started at Paradise in its U.S. Kids clinic program when he was 5. He improved so quickly from the clinics that he turned to individual instruction pretty early on at the Middleton golf center.
“Thomas is a very talented, left-handed golfer with a lot of consistency in all areas of the game,” said Ventre. “Even more importantly, outside of his golf game, Thomas is well-mannered, very respectful to others and has a smile that would warm up a room. If Thomas continues his hard work and dedication, the sky is the limit for this kid.”
